California Highway Patrol officer rescues a family from a burning car

Two women and two children were rescued by a California Highway Patrol officer when the car they were riding in caught fire Monday morning in Monterey. Officer Kaleo Clissold happened to be behind the vehicle on southbound Highway 1 at about 10 a.m. Monterey Herald photographer Vern Fisher was driving behind both vehicles before the fire and captured video of the incident. “I was behind the CHP when all of a sudden I just saw an explosion of smoke and flames” coming from under the hood of the car, said Fisher. “The lights (on the patrol car) went on and the car pulled onto the exit but didn’t immediately stop.” Fisher said he could see the distressed car dropping smoking, flaming pieces on the road as it crept to the Bay Park Hotel at 1425 Munras Ave. in Monterey before pulling into the parking lot and coming to a stop. The officer “runs up to the driver side but she (the driver) can’t get out because the door doesn’t open,” said Oscar Loza, California Highway Patrol public information officer relaying what officer Clissold reported to him. As Clissold yelled at the driver and passenger to get out he realized there were children in the back seat, said Loza. The officer pulled one crying, coughing child from the car yelling at the passenger who had exited the car on her own, “Here take your kid! What are you doing! C’mon!” before he went back to save the second screaming child from the smoking car. In the video, Clissold can be seen reaching from the passenger side to unlock the back door before pulling the child to safety. Loza said the children were in car seats. The driver escaped by climbing over to the passenger side and exiting the car. “Come here! Your car’s on fire!” Clissold screamed as the driver walked away from the smoking vehicle. All four occupants were treated on scene by fire and ambulance personnel and taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula as a precaution because of smoke inhalation, according to Loza.